Secretly Afraid
by Yukirei
Summary: A story about Daryan's secret fear. Characters: Daryan, Klavier. Warning: Spoilers up to GS4-3


**Secretly Afraid  
**_By Yukirei (a.k.a. Cosmiko Ling)_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban or any of its characters. This is a non-profit fanfiction written by a fan, for the enjoyment of other fans.  
**Warning: **Plot and character spoilers up to GS4-3.  
**Character(s): **Daryan, Klavier  
**Pairing(s):** none or mild Daryan x Klavier (if the reader chooses to see it that way)  
**Summary: **A story about Daryan's secret fear.

* * *

The low whirring of running engines filled his ears. The world seemed to be getting dimmer. His heart thumped in his head, it kinda hurt. His hand tightened its grip on the seatbelt - fingernails, knuckles long turned white. He was semi-conscious of his breaths having quickened along with his heartbeat sometime during the eternal wait on the runway. He tried to focus entirely on keeping his breathing slow and steady. _Breathe in, breathe out._

_Why were they still on the damn runway?_ He wondered. _The sooner they actually took off, the sooner they would touchdown and this whole thing could be over with. …Breathe in, breathe out._

"—Daryan?"

Daryan blinked twice rapidly as he suddenly found a hand waving in front of him, light glinting off silver rings stark on tanned skin

"Earth to Daryan~ Did you even hear anything I was saying?"

"What did you say?" Daryan scowled, bemused, as he threw his hand out roughly to slap Klavier's hand away. "And stop waving your hand in my face, man. It's making my head spin."

Daryan noticed, from the corner of his eye, the mock pout that Klavier wore instantaneously slide off his face. He remained watching warily as Klavier stared at him with a thoughtful frown. Then, all of a sudden, Klavier leant forward, leaving mere centimetres between them.

"What?" Daryan asked tersely; it felt as though he had suddenly been thrown off-balance. Damn Klavier and his disregard for personal space.

"Daryan." It was Klavier's serious voice, the one he used when he was completely focused on a case at hand. "Have you ever been on a plane before?"

Out of surprise, or perhaps, curiosity, Daryan inclined his head to look straight at Klavier, meeting his eyes. The concern in them was unmistakeable. Klavier _knew_.

"…Not exactly."

Klavier frowned. "Well, do you feel uncomfortable? Or a little scared?"

Daryan glared at Klavier. "No!"

Klavier leaned back, holding his gaze steady on Daryan. "Tell me, Detective. What will you deduce when you see a person paler than they usually are, and moreover, perspiring profusely in a comfortably air-conditioned cabin?"

"That the person has exceptionally active sweat glands?" Daryan would rather die, or in this case, appear dumb, than face the embarrassment of confessing his fear.

Klavier narrowed his eyes. "Which, to my knowledge, you don't have."

Man, sometimes he wished his friend, now pinning him with a scary stare, wasn't a prosecutor – this was probably what it'd feel like in the defendant's seat - or knew him so well; whichever could have made him back off at this moment.

"Why didn't you tell me, Daryan?"

Beyond Klavier's stern tone, Daryan detected a tinge of hurt. Perhaps, that was what made Daryan finally give in.

"It's no biggie," Daryan said with a nonchalant shrug. "Flying is the fastest transport mode to get across the country, after all. And we'll have more rehearsal time at the venue before the actual concert this way. We can't screw up on our first gig out of town."

"No, we can't. But you still should have said something," Klavier insisted, pursing his lips.

"I'll survive," Daryan muttered, and turned away. His body gave an involuntary shiver. Now that the conversation with Klavier was over, the feeling of discomfort was returning in a rush.

"Sir! The plane is about to take off!" An anxious female voice rang out somewhere faraway. "Please sit back down in your seat and secure your seatbelt! Sir, please!"

Daryan ignored the voice. He wasn't standing, it was none of his business.

Only upon two light taps on his shoulder did Daryan look up. Klavier stood above him, his form silhouetted almost surreal in the ceiling lights.

"Take your bags, Daryan. We're getting off."

"Huh?"

Klavier ended up getting both their bags. Daryan followed him in a daze – down the aisle, past countless curious stares and the low buzzing of gossip, through the open exit, strong wind greeting them, ruffling Klavier's short locks and whipping Daryan's long hair away from his cold cheeks, down the rollable staircase with clanging footsteps, heavy boots on metal. It was only a while after their feet once more touched solid, concrete runway, and their eyes silently trailed their plane up into the blue blue sky that Daryan snapped back to the present.

"What was _that_ all about, Gavin?" He spun on Klavier. "And how did you get them to let us do this?"

Klavier chuckled. "Our rising fame made it fairly elementary – they recognised us as members of the Gavinners and knew our connection to the police. So I just told them that an unexpected emergency had arisen on a strictly confidential case and we needed to get off the plane immediately." Klavier gave an easy smile at the look on Daryan's face. "And it was all about getting you away from your source of fear."

"That isn't-" Daryan began then decided against further protest, pointless as it was by this time. He heaved his backpack on his shoulder and turned abruptly, starting the walk back to the airport building. "Didn't need your help anyway. I hear the best way to counter one's fear is to face it."

"Perhaps," Klavier agreed as he fell into step beside Daryan. "Well, we can always try taking a plane again next time when you are ready."

Daryan glanced at Klavier, "How do you know I'm not already ready this time?"

Klavier shrugged. "Just a feeling." His eyes flicked to Daryan, looking at him softly over the shades now perched on the bridge of his nose. "You were scaring me out..."

Daryan didn't respond and they fell into silence; the only sounds were their footsteps and the tiny wheels of Klavier's oversized luggage rolling noisily on the rough ground.

The silence was broken but a short while later by the eruption of a loud groan from Daryan, "You do realise that the others are going to _kill_ us when they realise we weren't on that flight. How are we even getting there now?"

"I've arranged with the airline staff for train tickets to be booked. As for the others, they couldn't have missed us going out earlier, and they would have protested if they minded that much," Klavier objected. "Besides, I'm sure the two of us are good enough to catch up quickly even if we miss a few hours of rehearsal."

"Wouldn't change the fact that we will be late though," Daryan muttered under his breath. The tension was gone from his voice however; his relief that their transportation had been taken care of was clear.

"Well," Klavier suddenly grinned at Daryan. "We'll just be 'fashionably late'. I hear it's a common trait for famous rock band members. That's us, soon, ja?"

Daryan rolled his eyes at Klavier, even as his lips curved in a smirk. "Yea, try telling the others that."

* * *

Date started: 17 October 2008  
Date completed: 24 October 2008


End file.
